West Ham striker Dean Ashton expected to retire from football

Dean Ashton is this week expected to announce his retirement from football
after losing a long battle to recover from a broken ankle suffered on
England duty more than three years ago.

Cut down in his prime: Dean Ashton suffered an ankle injury on England duty in 2006Photo: GETTY IMAGES

By Jason Burt, Deputy Football Correspondent

12:25PM GMT 09 Nov 2009

The announcement is also likely lead to a multi-million pound compensation claim being lodged by the striker’s club, West Ham United, who have been deprived of the services of a player who cost them £7.25 million when he signed from Norwich City in January 2006.

Ashton, who will be 26 later this month, has desperately tried to regain fitness but has not played a senior match for 14 months. It’s understood that West Ham’s insurance claim may be as much as £7 million – the amount the player is believed to be covered for.

Ashton himself, who was marked out by Fabio Capello, when the Italian was appointed England manager, as a first-choice for his country, is also considering making a damages claim.

Ashton is suffering from chronic degeneration to his ankle. Although he can run, and is believed to be in outstanding physical shape apart from his ankle, Ashton cannot twist or turn or take any impact on the joint and is also in constant discomfort. Indeed he has been warned that he may end up being unable to walk properly if he continues to try and play football and may require further surgery in any case.

After the initial injury, which ruled him out for 11 months, Ashton did play again and made a further 35 appearances for West Ham, scoring 11 goals and earning himself a new five-year deal at the club last summer which placed him among the highest earners. However he broke down once more in September 2008, just four games into the season, and has been unable to play since despite manager Gianfranco Zola hoping he would eventually make a recovery.

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There was even interest from other clubs, including Stoke City, in Ashton over the summer.

Even over the weekend Zola reiterated the view that he still hoped Ashton would recover but that now appears impossible. Following consultations with several specialists, including the Dutch surgeon Niek van Dyke, who originally operated on Ashton, West Ham have reluctantly accepted that the striker’s career is over.

Van Dyke is thought to be believe that Ashton’s problems stem from the injury suffered on England duty. However any insurance claim is complicated given that Ashton did make a recovery to play again and even managed to finally earn an England cap, playing against Trinidad & Tobago last year.

The FA beefed up its insurance cover after a dispute with Newcastle United following Michael Owen’s injury in the last World Cup but the Ashton claim will have to be dealt with by the previous company.

The announcement is a severe blow to West Ham although the club will be hopeful of, at least, recouping some money through its compensation claim which may eventually be used to bolster Zola’s attacking options.